Reposting as WordPress seem to have deleted my original post…
I’ve written a post about my own personal pet peeves, but I think a lot of women (and perhaps some men) will agree with me when I say I deeply despise cat-calling. If you aren’t familiar with the phrase…
catcallˈkatkɔːl’verbgerund or present participle: cat-callingmake a catcall.“they were fired for catcalling at women
In the past few weeks alone, I can describe a few situations where I have been cat-called or suffered from some kind of street harassment…
1. Coming home from a night out at 5am and someone following me home with the line ‘Oh, I just wanna talk to you’. Bearing in mind I had my headphones in (listening to ANTI) and I kept repeating something along the lines of ‘F*CK OFF’. Writing this now makes me so ANGRY. What could you possibly want to talk to me about at 5am? Is tomato a fruit or vegetable? The housing crisis in the UK? Please enlighten me.
What is worse is that I had to be sure he was far away from enough for me to actually take out my keys. Why should I live like this? I’d had such a good night out, but situations like this leave such a sour feeling. I don’t wanna keep forking out money for cabs or staying out until it’s bright enough to feel safe.
2. Walking home around 8pm, with plenty of people around, some guy keeps turning around and making his face at me…
I am actually cracking up because I had to find the above gif to illustrate my point. But in all seriousness, how the hell do you think turning around and making the disgusting face above is gonna make me wanna talk to you?
3. I can’t remember where I was going but some guy literally rolled down his windows and started beeping at me and starting shouting ‘OI’. First of all I’m not Portuguese, so Oi means nothing to me. Second of all, oh so you’re in a car, is it even yours, who knows if you’re just stunting for the day. I am not gonna jump in the car with you and fall in love with you? So just p*ss off.
Guys who roll down their windows to try to speak to women are a lot like the internet trolls of today. Your car is like your little box giving you some kinda protection from the world, much like those who hide behind their smartphones or computers leaving hate online. Being in a car and honking at a woman may give you a bolt of power – but it is distressing.
I can tell you a good few stories my friends have had but it doesn’t really do anything does it? What needs to change is the way *some men* behave towards women. I’m not saying all men are misogynistic twats who harass women on a daily basis but the ones I have encountered really make me question the male species as a whole.
What is even funnier is when you respond to these idiots and they proceed to insult you or call you fat…
I always wonder what it would be like if these cat-callers witnessed their mothers, daughters or a close female in their lives being harassed on the street and how they would react. I can only imagine how they’d feel – uncomfortable, pissed off, angry? NEWSFLASH. That is exactly how you make women feel when you proceed to whistle, beep your cars, or assume you want to talk to us.
We are not objects. Stop objectifying us.
Char xo
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